What is Normal Anyway?

By Amy Coward

Back to normal. What does that even mean? We’re slowly stepping off the wild ride of COVD-19 on the other side and do we even know where we are?

In the past year, many of us have lost people we loved, jobs we loved, activities and occasions we loved, and yet I hear people talk about the silver linings of such an unusual time. The extra time with family, playing games, baking bread, being creative, taking care of neighbors. I will always remember the drive-by drop off of cookies, seeing my daughter race back to her car and drive away, and the paper towels left at my door by my neighbor, the calls, the FaceTime visits and the many, many Zoom calls with co-workers, colleagues and friends. I’ve never seen my reflection as often as I have this past year on Zoom.

Change has been a constant and we’ve all learned to do things differently. And we’ve learned we can enjoy things differently. Because of that, I’m not sure that returning to “normal” is actually going to be a thing. And maybe that’s okay.

Maybe this is our chance – with all the justification in the world – to hit the re-set button. Find a job with more meaning or more flexibility. Explore our creative side. Try new things. Go new places. We’ve all been shown that tomorrow is not guaranteed. Over. And. Over. Maybe this time we will take note.

Personally, I’m going to try to pause before jumping back into life as we knew it. Really consider what is meaningful in my life and what can be let go.

Feel free to do the same, my friend. There may be more than “normal” ahead of us if we give ourselves the chance to find it.

Amy Coward is a public relations and event planning professional in Columbia, SC. When she is not managing the madness of her profession, she is writing, running and traveling.